The Attorney General of Texas
June 12, 1978
JOHN L. HILL
Attorney General
Honorable John W. La Grone Opinion No. H- 1183
Hutchinson County Attorney
P. 0. Box 985 Re: Whether a justice of the
Borger, Texas 79007 peace may maintain his office in
an adjoining precinct within the
same city.
Dear Mr. La Grone:
You have requested our opinion regarding whether a justice of the peace
may maintain his office in an adjoining precinct within the same city.
Prior to 1967, article 2377, V.T.C.S., was construed to permit one
justice of the peace to perform .the duties of another justice only within the
boundaries of the former’s precinct. Attorney General Opinion H-671 (1975);
Stewart v. Smallwood, 102 S.W. 159 (Tex. Civ. App. 1907, no writ). In 1967,
however, the Legislature enacted article 2393a, V.T.C.S., which authorizes a
justice of the peace to
hold court for any other justice whose precinct is in
the same county; and the justices of a county may
exchange benches whenever they deem it expedient.
In Attorney General Opinion H-671 (1975), we construed this statute to permit
the substituting justice to “hold court in his own precinct or in the precinct of
the second justice.”
In our opinion, however, the Legislature, in enacting article 2393a, did
not intend to authorize a justice of the peace to maintain his office outside
his own precinct. As we recently observed in Attorney General Opinion H-
1088 (1977), article 5, section 18 of the Texas Constitution requires that R
justice of the peace “shall be elected” in each precinct. To permit a justice
to maintain his office outside the precinct for which he was elected would
thwart the clear purpose of the constitutional provision.
In addition, it is a well-established principle in virtually every
jurisdiction that, unless a statute provides otherwise, a justice of the peace
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Honorable John W. La Grone - Page 2 (R-1183)
may establish and maintain an office only in the political subdivision for which he is
elected or appointed. See e. Lindholm v. Rifner, 264 P. 1054 (Kan. 1928); Stein
482 N.D. 1927); Commonwealth ex rel. Hunter v. Smail,
v. Caven, 213 N.W. 481,--v
A. 1088 (Pa. 1913); Altergott v. O’Connor, 6 S.W.2d 1012, 1013 (MO. App. 1928);
Newhill v. Hendricks, 205 P.2d 247, 249 (Utah 1949); Harrington v. State, 91 P.2d
787 (Okla. Crim. 1939). While article 2393a empowers one justice of the peace to
hold court for another within the latter’s precinct, we do not believe it relieves him
of the obligation to maintain his own office within his own precinct. Accordingly,
it is our opinion that a justice of the peace may not maintain his office in an
adjoining precinct.
SUMMARY
A justice of the peace may not maintain his office in an
adjoining precinct.
APPROVED:
DAVID M. KENDALL, First Assistant
Opinion Committee
jsn
p. 4771